His year as an Apple Records artist gave James Taylor quite an interesting perspective on both the public and private sides of the John Lennon. Tom Brook of the BBC recently conducted an interview with JT that includes a number of fascinating observations about Lennon as seen through the eyes of a man who was a fan, a friend and a fellow artist.
At the 18:30 mark of the session, Taylor hesitates momentarily before relating the story of having heard the shots that felled Lennon on a New York street 30 years ago Wednesday (12/8). Taylor, it turns out, lived practically next door to the Dakota, the building John and Yoko's apartment was in. He was on the telephone with his manager's wife when he heard the gun shots and remarked to her that he'd just '...heard the cops shoot somebody on the street'. Eerie as that is, what follows is even more bizarre. Taylor talks about having been accosted by Lennon's killer in a subway station near the Dakota the day before John was killed. Taylor says he was pinned to the wall by Mark David Chapman, who he describes as '...glistening with maniacal sweat', and '...talking some freak spew' about his plan to make contact with John Lennon. Whether Chapman recognized Taylor is not clear and, oddly, is not asked.
BBCAmerica.com
